Feds Taking Closer Look at Oil, Gas Prices

With experts starting to talk about $6-a-gallon gas prices, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department will be taking a closer look at the situation.

Holder announced the formation of a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Working Group to focus specifically on fraud in the energy markets.   The Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group will monitor oil and gas markets for potential violations of criminal or civil laws to safeguard against unlawful consumer harm.

“Rapidly rising gasoline prices are pinching the pockets of consumers across the country,” said Attorney General Holder.   “We will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity.   

"If illegal conduct is responsible for increasing gas prices, state and federal authorities should take swift action.”

The working group will include representatives from the Department of Justice, the National Association of Attorneys General, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the Departments of Agriculture and Energy.  

The Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group will explore whether there is any evidence of manipulation of oil and gas prices, collusion, fraud, or misrepresentations at the retail or wholesale levels that violates state or federal laws and harms consumers or the federal government as a purchaser of oil and gas.   

The Working Group will also evaluate developments in commodities markets and examine investor practices, supply and demand factors and the role of speculators and index traders in oil futures markets.  

The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force was established by President Obama to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes and other laws prohibiting financial fraud.   

In March 2011, President Obama asked the Attorney General to work with federal and state agencies to monitor oil and gas markets for potential wrongdoing.